EVD is a disease in humans, chimpanzees, and monkeys, caused by infection with EBOV. This virus was first recognized in Zaire, Africa in 1976. EBOV is a member of the Filoviridae family of RNA viruses and causes a severe hemorrhagic fever with a high mortality rate. For example, infection with the Ebola virus Zaire (ZEBOV) strain of the virus is associated with a mortality rate of up to 90% in humans. Currently, there are no licensed vaccines or therapeutics approved for human use.
An enveloped virus, EBOV hides from humoral recognition behind a wide array of protective mechanisms. EBOV GP, the major envelope glycoprotein of EBOV is approximately 165 kD in size. During infection proteases of the host cell cleave a precursor of GP, termed GP0, into GP1 and GP2. GP1 is an integral membrane protein, while GP1 protrudes from the mature virus. Together GP1 and GP2 make up the EBOV envelope spike, which is a target for neutralizing antibodies. Although certain EBOV neutralizing antibodies that bind to the EBOV GP have been identified, there is a need to develop additional neutralizing antibodies for EBOV with varying EBOV GP recognition profiles and increased neutralization potency.